James Loney drove in two runs, including the winning run on a one-out bloop single to center in the eighth inning, as the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-3 victory over the Boston...

A 'free' RV for MFD: A nice ride to the poor farm

EDITORIAL

Where is the tipping point? When will some public official or elective body somewhere in the United States either accept the last taxpayer dollar that puts us all into bankruptcy or just finally say "no" to this wholesale suicide?

Apparently it won't be the City of Manchester that says "no."

Manchester's Fire Department, with the blessing of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, has applied for and received a $600,000 federal "grant" (that would be your money) to purchase a super-sized recreational vehicle disguised as a "Unified Command Vehicle.''

Why? No one can make a serious case for this thing. The fire chief didn't say his department would put out fires any faster. He did say that the police could also use it; but we didn't read any promises that they would be able to stop crime any faster with this ark.

So why get it? Well, explained Fire Chief James Burkush, "If Manchester didn't take this vehicle, then another community in the state would."

Ah, yes, the tried-and-true and never-ending excuse for tapping the federal till. If we don't spend taxpayer money on unnecessary things, someone else will. And this will apparently keep up until all of us have spent all the money we have (and more) and there will be no money for real needs, rather than wants.

Don't shake your head and blame it on the fire chief and the aldermen, Mr. or Mrs. Taxpayer. It is you who put these people into their positions. It is you who is ultimately responsible for what they do.

To his everlasting credit, Alderman Phil Greazzo voted against this foolishness.

"I guess this is free money from the federal government," he said, "but if we don't start refusing this money, we're just going to go deeper into debt."